Drug and Alcohol Prevention

Mission Statement

The Drug and Alcohol Prevention and Intervention Program at Saddleback College utilizes a comprehensive approach to address alcohol and other drug related problems through education, prevention, and treatment interventions to foster student learning and success.

Get Confidential Help - When you Need It the Most

Saddleback College recognizes that balancing academic excellence and a complicated life outside school can be stressful and at times overwhelming. Because nobody should deal with personal life issues without help and guidance, Saddleback College Health Center offers support and resources.

Meetings and Support

AA 12-Step Meetings Every Wednesday 12-1:00 pm BGS 345

HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF ILLICIT DRUGS AND ALCOHOL

The brief summaries are an overview of the major health risks associated with the use of illicit drugs and alcohol. Abuse of alcohol and other drugs can lead to chemical dependency and can be harmful during pregnancy.

Alcohol—Did you know that

• Alcohol is a depressant that decreases the responses of the central nervous system.

• Excessive drinking can cause liver damage and psychotic behavior.

• As little as two beers or drinks can impair coordination and thinking.

• Alcohol is often used by substance abusers to enhance the effects of other drugs.

• Alcohol continues to be the most frequently abused substance among young adults.

What are the Dangers of Alcohol Abuse? Risk of injury or death as a result of accident or violence, impaired vision, impaired motor coordination, memory defects, hallucinations, blackouts, and seizures. Long-term use can result in permanent damage to the brain, elevated blood pressure and heart rate, risk of stroke, heart failure, respiratory depression and failure, pneumonia, tuberculosis, lung abscesses, increased risk of mouth and throat cancer, alcoholic fatty liver, hepatitis, and cirrhosis, duodenal ulcers, reflux, diarrhea, impaired judgment and verbal ability, apathy, introversion, antisocial behavior, inability to concentrate, and deterioration of relationships with family, friends, and co-workers. Alcohol is an especially dangerous drug for pregnant women. Drinking during pregnancy raises the risk of low-birth weight babies and intrauterine growth retardation, increasing the danger of infection, feeding difficulties, and long-term developmental problems.

• Ice causes a very jittery high, along with anxiety, insomnia, sometimes and paranoia.

Dangers and consequences of meth use: sleeplessness, loss of appetite and weight loss, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, elevated body temperature, skin ulceration and infection, the result of picking at imaginary bugs, paranoia, depression, irritability, anxiety, increased blood pressure, due to the constriction of blood vessels, that may produce headaches, chest pain,

or irregular heartbeat and lead to stroke or heart attack, seizures, permanent damage to brain cells caused by injury to small blood vessels serving the brain. For pregnant women—premature labor, detachment of the placenta, and low birth weight babies with possible neurological damage, poor feeding, and lethargy. For intravenous (IV) users—AIDS, hepatitis, infections and sores at the injection site, and infection of the heart lining and valves (endocarditis).

How does LSD Affect You? Dilated pupils, high temperature, rapid heartbeat, increased blood pressure, sleeplessness, appetite loss, and tremors. Acute anxiety, depression, panic, paranoia, or psychotic behavior may accompany a bad trip or may occur after most other effects of the drug have worn off. An overdose can result in a longer, more intense and more frightening trip, and the spontaneous, recurring hallucinations known as flashbacks can occur days, weeks, or more than a year after LSD use.

Ecstasy Called MDMA (3-4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) by scientists, it is a synthetic chemical that can be derived from an essential oil of the sassafras tree. One of the most dangerous drugs threatening young people today. MDMA is also one of the easiest illegal drugs to obtain.

• Effects similar to those of amphetamines and hallucinogens.

• Distributed almost anywhere, it has become very popular at social events like raves, hip hop parties, concerts, etc. frequented by both adults and youth. While not all “event” attendees use Ecstasy, the drug often makes the circuit of these parties and can set up dangerous circumstances that can affect everyone there.

• Short-term effects include psychological difficulties (confusion, depression, sleep problems, craving, severe anxiety, and paranoia). These effects occur during use and can continue even weeks after use.

Long Term Effects Recent findings connect use of Ecstasy to memory loss. Use of Ecstasy depletes serotonin, a very

important chemical in the brain which regulates mood, sleeping and eating habits, as well as, the thinking and behavior process, sexual function, and sensitivity to pain.

Heroin, Codeine, Morphine, Opium

Opiates often called narcotics are those drugs derived from opium or derivations or opium synthetics. There are several different drugs in the opiate family including opium, morphine, heroin, codeine, hydromorphone/Dilaudid and merperidine/Demerol.

Paying the Price of Heroin Use: range from mild distress to life threatening dangers and include: dry, itchy skin and skin infections, constricted pupils and reduced night vision, nausea and vomiting (following early use or high doses), constipation and loss of appetite, menstrual irregularity, reduced sex drive, scarring ("tracks") along veins and collapsed veins from repeated injections, irregular blood pressure, slow and irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), fatigue, breathlessness, and labored, noisy breathing due to excessive fluid in the lungs ("the rattles"), injuries that result from engaging in any activity (such as working, driving, or operating machinery) when incapacitated by heroin use, dependence, addiction, hepatitis, AIDS, and other infections from unsanitary injection, stroke or heart attack caused by blood clots resulting from insoluble additives, respiratory paralysis, heart arrest, coma, and death from accidental overdose

For Self Help Referrals visit: US Department of Health and Human Resources and SAMHSA’s National Clearing House for Alcohol and Drug Information at http://ncadistore.samhsa.gov/catalog/referrals.aspx?topic=83&h=resources

Resources

US Department of Health and Human Resources and SAMHSA’s National Clearing House for Alcohol and Drug Information http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/govpubs/rpo926/#Depr

American Council for Drug Education, an Affiliate of Phoenix House http://www.acde.org/health/Research.htm

As required with the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act (Public Law 101-226) Saddleback College provides this description of the health risks associated with the use of illicit drugs and alcohol.

Help and Resources for Identification of Possible Alcohol or Drug Abuse

If you think you or a friend has a problem with drugs or alcohol, help is available call 949-582-4606.

Student Health Center

The Student Health Center provides free Individual, Couple, Family, and Group Psychotherapy to all currently enrolled students. Psychotherapy is provided for a wide range of presenting problems, including but not limited to, depressive disorders and suicidal ideation; anxiety disorders, including PTSD and OCD; alcohol and substance abuse and dependency; relational difficulties, including domestic violence; sexual abuse, rape, and sexual harassment; sexual identity concerns, including same-sex couples counseling; immigration and acculturation problems; eating disorders; and adjustment disorders. Students are treated with short-term psychotherapy. Students requiring long-term care are referred to off-campus resources, including low-cost agencies that accept patients without health insurance.

Call for an appointment 949-582-4606

General Counseling

Professional counseling faculty are available to provide personal, academic, and career counseling services to Saddleback College students.

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